Please note that funds for MDPI, Frontiers and BMC journals are fully committed to papers under review.
To support researchers publishing in Open Access journals, central funds may be available to support the payment of article processing charges (APCs) when publishing in fully gold open access journals.
The Library administers these funds on behalf of the University and requests for APC central funding support are allocated on a per School and first-in basis.
To take advantage of APC central funding your article must meet the WSU eligibility guidelines below and must have been submitted to a listed journal from one of the below publishers. The maximum limit per article for APCs support is AU$2,830.
There is a maximum limit of AU$2,830. For payments higher than this amount, the University will cover the first AU$2,830 and the balance will need to be obtained from other sources.
Eligibility To Access Western Sydney Central Funds
Eligibility is based upon several criteria: research component, authorship and affiliation and minimum journal ranking.
Research Component
- The article must meet the ERA definition of research as outlined in the ERA Submission Guidelines.
- Protocols for systematic reviews and clinical trials are also accepted, although these may not always meet the ERA definition of research.
Authorship and affiliation
- The Corresponding Author must either be employed by the University on an ongoing / fixed term basis
,or be a current / recently completed higher degree research student.
Casual staff, adjuncts, conjoint, and visiting fellows are not eligible to access these funds. - If the Corresponding Author is a higher degree research student, the publication must relate to research undertaken during the student’s candidature. It is understood that formal publication may occur after the student has completed their degree.
- Western Sydney University must be listed as the Corresponding Author’s primary affiliation.
Minimum journal ranking
In order to maximise the reputational and ranking benefits to the University, the Corresponding Author’s academic employment level or student enrolment level will be considered when specifying the journal’s minimum SCImago quartile ranking:
- Quartile 2
Higher degree research students (includes M. Research)
Level A – Associate Lecturer / Postdoctoral or Associate Research Fellow
Level B – Lecturer / Research Fellow
Level C – Senior Lecturer / Senior Research Fellow
Level D – Associate Professor / Principal Research Fellow - Quartile 1
Level E – Professor / Professorial Research Fellow
Publisher/Journal Listings
Central Funding is only available from the following publishers for titles that meet the eligibility criteria. Check the list of titles spreadsheet (4.5 Mb Excel file) to determine if your title is included.
- Taylor and Francis (including Dove, Routledge and Cogent)
- MDPI
- Frontiers
- BMC (including SpringerOpen)
Accessing Central Funding For Article Processing Fee Support
When you have submitted (or will be submitting in the next 2 weeks) your article to the journal, you can apply for central funding support via the forms below. Please note that funds are not guaranteed and must be used within the calendar year.